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AIDS Benefit Concert Draws 72,000

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Wembley Stadium thundered with heavy metal and the cheers of 72,000 rock fans at a charity concert tonight "to celebrate the life and work and dreams" of Freddie Mercury, the lead singer of the group Queen, who died of AIDS on Nov. 24.

Nearly a hundred performers, including Elton John, David Bowie and George Michael, gathered for the tribute. Organizers of the concert hoped that the three-and-a-half-hour show, broadcast to 70 countries, would raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for AIDS organizations around the world.

Brian May, the guitarist for Queen, took the stage with the other members of the group, Roger Taylor and John Deacon, and said they were there "to celebrate the life and work and dreams of one Freddie Mercury."

"We're going to give him the biggest send-off in history," they said.

The American heavy metal band Metallica got the concert off to a pounding start, their music pulsating from giant speakers throughout the stadium, which is in Wembley, eight miles northwest of London.

Members of the huge crowd swayed to the music, raising their arms in the air. Many held red banners bearing Mr. Mercury's name, and performers wore the red ribbons that have become a symbol of AIDS awareness.

Bob Geldof, whose Live Aid concerts on July 13, 1985, for famine relief in Africa set a pattern for charity rock concerts, sang "Too Late, God," a song he wrote with Mr. Mercury, and introduced Spinal Tap. The show then cut away to California, where U2 performed in Sacramento.